Conventional vehicle control units generally have capabilities for on-board diagnosis. The supplied diagnosis typically refers to the control unit itself, its function, and software updates. These capabilities of control units of the type in question may be accessed, for example, with the aid of a wide variety of vehicle communication networks such as CAN, Flexray or Ethernet and respective diagnostic protocols such as OBD. To establish a diagnostic communication link between the control unit and an external diagnostic tool, such a control unit has a diagnosis address. In a single software system within the control unit, the described capabilities shall be considered to be part of the related art.
In a virtualized control unit, however, there are several software systems, so-called guest systems, and the additional software component of a hypervisor. As a consequence, diagnostic capabilities with respect to status information are needed for each guest system, the hardware and the hypervisor. Finally, the guest systems and the hypervisor must be updated.
German Patent Application No. DE 19921845 A1 describes a diagnostic testing device for motor vehicles, programmable control units including self-diagnosis means being provided in the motor vehicle, which control and monitor the engine control unit and other systems of the motor vehicle in a program-controlled manner, generate error codes and store these, and which are connectable to an external diagnostic tester via a motor vehicle-side diagnostic/test plug. The external diagnostic tester is equipped with a program identification and program loading device. With the aid of the program identification device, the program version present in the connected control unit is queried and identified. When the program which is present in the motor vehicle and identified via the diagnostic/test plug and present in the connected control unit of the motor vehicle is not stored in the latest and most up-to-date version, the program loading device of the diagnostic tester loads the respective most up-to-date version into the program memory of the corresponding control unit.